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Page 71 of 255

It was true that he had always kept in his heart a great respect for the new call his nephew was

carrying and its banner, but what should the right time have been to embrace this religion if he was

destined to embrace it? Should it be a moment of indignation and anger or a moment of deep reflection?

Thus he was inspired by a clear consciousness to reconsider the whole situation in light of strict and

meticulous thinking.

Hamzah started thinking. He spent many restless days and sleepless nights. When one tries to attain

the truth by the power of mind, uncertainty will become a means of knowledge, and this is what

happened to Hamzah. Once he used his mind to search Islam and to weigh between the old religion and

the new one, he started to have doubts raised by his innate inherited nostalgia for his father's religion and

by the natural fear of anything new. All his memories of the Ka`bah, the idols, the statues and the high

religious status these idols bestowed on the Quraish and Makkah were raised.

It appeared to him that denying all this history and the ancient religion was like a big chasm which

had to be crossed. Hamzah was amazed at how a man could depart from the religion of his father that

early and that fast. He regretted what he had done but he went on with the journey of reasonable

thinking. But at that moment, he realized that his mind was not enough and that he should resort

sincerely to the unseen power. At the Ka'bah he prayed and supplicated to heaven, seeking help from

every light that existed in the universe to be guided to the right path.

Let us hear him narrating his own story: I regretted having departed from the religion of my father

and kin, and I was in a terrible state of uncertainty and could not sleep. I came to the Ka'bah and

supplicated to Allah to open my heart to what was right and to eliminate all doubts from it. Allah

answered my prayer and filled my heart with faith and certainty. In the morning I went to the Prophet

(PBUH) informing him about myself, and he prayed to Allah that He may keep my heart stable in this

religion.

In this way Hamzah converted to Islam, the religion of certainty.

Allah supported Islam with Hamzah's conversion. He was strong in defending the Prophet of Allah

(PBUH) and the helpless amongst his Companions. When Abu Jahl saw him among the Muslims, he

realized that war was inevitably coming. Therefore he began to support the Quraish to ruin the Prophet

and his Companions. He wanted to prepare for a civil war to relieve his heart of anger and bitter feelings.

Hamzah was unable, of course, to prevent all the harm alone, but his conversion was a shield that

protected the Muslims, and was the first source of attraction to many tribes to embrace Islam. The second

source was `Umar Ibn Al-Khattab's conversion, after which people entered Allah's religion in crowds.

Since his conversion, Hamzah devoted all his life and power to Allah and His religion till the Prophet

(PBUH) honored him with the noble title, "The Lion of Allah and of His Messenger".

The first military raid launched by the Muslims against their enemies was under the command of

Hamzah. The first banner that the Prophet handed to any Muslim was to Hamzah. In the battle of Badr,

when the two conflicting parties met, the Lion of Allah and of His Messenger was there performing great

wonders.

The defeated remnants of the Quraish army went back to Makkah stumbling in disappointment. Abu

Sufyaan was broken hearted with a bowed head as he left on the battlefield the dead bodies of the

Quraish martyrs such as Abu Jahl, Utbah Ibn Rabii'ah, Shaibah lbn Rabii'ah, Umaiyah Ibn khalaf,

`Uqbah Thn Abi Mu'ait, Al-Aswad Ibn `Abdul Al-Asad Al-Makhzumi, Al- Wallid lbn `Utbah, Al-Nafr

lbn Al-Haarith, Al-'Aas lbn Sa'iid, Ta'mah lbn `Addi and tens of other great Quraish.

But the Quraish would not accept the defeat easily. They started to prepare the army and to pull

together all powers to avenge their honor and their dead. They insisted to continue the war. In the Battle

of Uhud, all the Quraish went to war together with their allies from the Arabs, under the leadership of

Abu Sufyaan once again.